Improvement in wagons



J. M. ORPUT.

Wagon.

No. 218,828. Patente-d Aug. 26,1879.

WITN 55555 l l. PETERS. HICTOUDKJGEAPME immun STATES PATENT' E'li-MCE.iaiwnstf onPU'r, or MALTmiLLINoIsJS IMPROVEMENT IN wAGoNs.

specification formingpait of Letters Patent No. 218,825, dated August26, 1879 application flied January 27, 1879. i

'To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES M. ORPUT, of the town of Maltain the county ofDe Kalb and State of Illinois, have invented certain new andusefullmprovemen ts in Wagons; and I do l1ereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact )description thereof, refr erencebeing had to -the accompanying drawings,'and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specifica` tion.-

My invention relates to a novel mode of attaching a wagon-ton gue to thegear, in vconnection with the device or medium through which the draftis applied, whereby the tongue is rel lieved of all draft and becomes aguide merely, whereby the efficiency of the tongue as a guide is greatlyincreased, and whereby the draft is at all times applied to theextremities of the axle, or to either extremity that is at the timebeing retarded by an obstruction to the adjacent wheel.

' My invention consists, first, in locating the fixed fulcrum or rearattachment of the tongue at a point inadvanceof the forward axle,

which point has a permanent relation to the the extremities of the axle,and of shifting the,

draft mainly and directly to either Wheel that may be obstructed.

.Figure l is a perspective- View of a portion of a wagon gear embracingmy invention. Fig. 2 is a top View of the same, showing the relativeVmovements of the tongue and forward axle with reference tothe remainingportion of the wagon, the direction of which remaining portion isrepresented by the central reach, B.

Fig. 3 shows apreferredform of the universal joint by whichfthe tongueis connected at'its stationary `or `fixed fulcrum.

A in the drawings indicates the forward axle of a wagon, pivoted Vby thebolt Kto the usual reach R. The reach is prolonged to formtheforward'extension, R', to the extremity of which the tongue T isattached by the universal joint 0; S is a sleeve tted to slidefreely'ppon the squared tongue, provided with the side ears, ay a, thehammer-strap h, and evencr-pin i.

B B are stiff rods, formed with eyes at both ends, and connecting thesleeveSto the axle Aby the ears a a. and the eyeboltsibhf The evencrbeing attached by the pin t" to the sleeve S, which is loose upon thetongue, it -is plain that the draft will be communicated through therods B B directly to the axle at the points b b, and it is also plainthat when either wheel is obstructed .the draft will be wholly or mainlydiverted to the rod B, which is connected near the obstructed wheel.

The operation of my improved tongue to give more easy and prompt controlover the movements of the axle is made plain by noting that the rear orshort arm of the tongue, regarded as a lever, is lshorter than in anordinary wagon, while the long arm remains the same, giving increasedadvantage or leverage to thepower applied to the long` arm for thecontrol of the forward axle; or my device may be otherwise regarded asa/compound lever substituted in placeof a simple bent lever `of anordinary wagon, in which `the entire tongue, from its free extremity tothe kingbolt, is the long arm, and the axle, from the kingbolt K to thewheel, is the short arm.

That the compound lever so` substituted increases the advantage of thepower applied at the free end of the tongue is proved by the fact thatin my device said end'of the tongue moves through a greater arc inproducing a given movement of the axle than does the Same point in anordinary or rigidly-mounted tongue. This advantage is secured byliexibly connecting the rear extremity of *thetongue relation requiredwith the rear or main portion of' the wagon.

Itis necessary in extending the reach for this purpose, as shown, thatit be made stronger than usual against lateral strain at K, and that theconnections at C be made strong and be firmly secured. The rods or barsB should also be heavy and rigid, as in turning the Wagon one bar servesas a strut, and must not bend or buckle.

The sleeve or slide S is preferably of the form shown; but it mayconsist of a narrow ring loosely fitted to the tongue, and eitherrigidly or exibly connected with the rods B B. The evener-pin iispreferably located in advance of the connections u a., ns shown.

In a wagon thus constructed not only may the forward axle be. moreperfectly and promptly controlled through the tongue, but the tongueitself may, in the same proportion, and for the same reason, bc moresteadily and more easily held by the neck-yoke or breaststraps. As anincident to the greater sweep ofthe tongue in turning the Wagon, theteam and Wagon may be turned about in less space l than is r. quired byan ordinary wagon cramped To the same extent.

Itl would be the equivalent of the device shown and within my inventionif the sleeve S be made fast to the tongue anda sliding hinge movementprovided at C, and such device is intended to be embraced by myfollowing claim.

Having thus described my invention, I clailu and desire to secure byLetters Patent- A Wagon-tongue, T, tiexibly connected at a point, C,located in advance of the point K, and held in permanent relation to therear portion ot' the wagon, or to the reach R, in combination with theslide S and the rods B B, substantially as described, and for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as luy invention I atlix mysignature in presence of two Witnesses. I

JAMES M. URPUT.

Witnesses:

En. LEACH, SEWELL E. BUTLER.

